Tribune TRI LAKES 3/13/13
Tri-Lakes
Tri-Lakes Region, Monument, Gleneagle, Black Forest and Northern El Paso County
March 13, 2013
Free
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtrilakesnews.com
Flyover canceled for AFA graduation Air Force calls off aviation support including air shows and Thunderbirds flyovers By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com
Pictured is the golf course at Monument Hill Country Club when it saw greener days. The management at the country club has made the decision not to offer golf at Woodmoor this season due to high irrigation rates and have offered members Kings Deer Golf Club to golf instead. Courtesy photo
Woodmoor golf season is no-go Monument Hill Country Club not offering golf due to high irrigation water rates By Lisa Collacott
lcollacott@ourcoloradonews.com For the first time in the 40-year history of Monument Hill Country Club golf will not be offered to its members. Management has made the tough decision to cancel golf this season due to high water rates. “We can’t support golf in Woodmoor based upon the rates of water,” Vic Harshberger, COO of the Monument Hill Country Club, said. Instead golf will be offered at nearby Kings Deer Golf Club. The rest of the country club will remain open and continue to offer aquatics, tennis, a fitness center, dining and other social activities. Harshberger said over the past three years MHCC has paid approximately $180,000 in irrigation per golf season. That is compared to 2007 and 2008 when they were only paying $85,000 per season. Their annual renewable water investment fee is close to $20,000. The renewable water investment fee pays for bonds issued to finance the purchase of the JV Ranch. Despite their golf rounds increasing by 80 percent and using extreme conservation efforts to conserve water, MHCC is still paying eight times more in irrigation than Kings Deer Golf Club. Harshberger said that current water rates and fees imposed by Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District make it impossible
to keep the golf course going. Harshberger said he tried to meet with WWSD on a number of occasions to work with them on water rates and even offered to meet with the board of directors in executive session but he said WWSD couldn’t find a way to make it work. “I’m very disappointed,” Harshberger said. “I really don’t see anything in the future that will provide us reasonable rates.” Jessie Shaffer, district manager for WWSD, said to his knowledge the district never received a request from the country club to meet about closing the golf course. “District staff and individual board members have met, upon request, with representatives of the country club several times over the past few years to discuss site specific operational practices and to suggest ideas for more efficient water use that could lower the cost for the country club,” Shaffer said. Shaffer also said the district has met with representatives to discuss using Kings Deer water but necessary project improvements to deliver Kings Deer water into the district were deemed unfeasible by the country club. He also said that the district met with representatives in the late summer to discuss a substantial leak and significant loss of water, approximately eight million gallons, which was occurring on one of the course ponds. He said the discussions resulted in a deferral of payments and reduced water usage charges because of the circumstances and with the understanding that the country club would fix the leak by December. Shaffer said that they were never notified that the leak was fixed. Harshberger said that is inaccurate and during a 2012 WWSD board meeting he requested to meet with the board to discuss
the “health of the golf course” in the board’s executive session and was refused. He said it would have been inappropriate to discuss a possible golf course closure in a public meeting that was covered by the press. “Jessie was present when that request was refused,” he said, adding that several email requests were sent to board members asking for a private meeting and Shaffer was copied on at least one of those messages. He said none of the board members agreed to meet with him in private telling him that, “This is a discussion that should happen with the board as a whole or with Jessie as a conduit to all of us.” Harshberger also said that WWSD never suggested ideas for efficient water usage. “They have never exhibited knowledge of golf course agronomics. We did discuss utilizing the main irrigation pond to store water to avoid the penalty rates of bracket 2 and 3 for non-potable water. We had to get the approval of the state, not WWSD in order to use our pond to store water for later use,” Harshberger added. As for the idea of using Kings Deer water Harshberger said Shaffer was the one who rejected the idea. He said in an email sent to him by Shaffer in December of 2011 Shaffer said that transmission loss would be over 25 percent to move water from King’s Deer to Woodmoor and that there was no value in building a pipeline between the two. Regarding the leak Harshberger said they were required to pay WWSD for millions of gallons of water they didn’t use. He said WWSD insisted they pay for the water which the experts the country club hired say was seeping back into the same water table the wells draw from, but did agree to only charge them at the tier one rate. Woodmoor continues on Page 9
There will be no Air Force Thunderbird flyover at this year’s United States Air Force Academy graduation. The long-standing tradition has been axed this year thanks to sequestration. Because of the federal cuts active duty, reserve and guard units have put a stop to all aviation support to the public. That means no airshows, trade shows, flyovers, including funerals and graduations, open houses, F-22 demonstration flights, orientation flights and heritage flights. Additionally the Thunderbirds have cancelled their 2013 season effective April 1. According to a press release issued by the Air Force, they are standing down aerial demonstration teams to save flying hours in order to support readiness needs. The Air Force is reducing flying hours by 18 percent which amounts to approximately 203,000 hours. All aerial support and military events are flown to no additional cost to taxpayers by using allotted training hours therefore the Air Force had no choice but to cancel support to the events. “Engaging with the public is a core Air Force mission and communicating and connecting with the public is more important today than ever before. However, faced with deep budget cuts, we have no choice but to stop public aviation support,” Brig. AFA continues on Page 9
The 1,046 newly commissioned second lieutenants at the U.S. Air Force Academy commemorate their achievement by tossing their hats as the Air Force Thunderbirds fly over Falcon Stadium May 27. Courtesy photo by Dennis Rogers